John Tully, 78

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Native Staten Islander John (Jack) J. Tully, 78, recently of Davenport, N.Y., a U.S. Army veteran who ran a Coca-Cola distributorship on Staten Island, died Sunday in Bassett Hospital, Cooperstown, following a brief illness.

Born on Staten Island, Mr. Tully grew up in New Dorp, staying in that community until 2001, when he moved to the family’s summer home in Davenport.

He graduated from McKee High School, and joined the U.S. Army at the end of the Korean War. He was stationed in Iceland.

For 35 years, Mr. Tully owned and operated a Coca Cola distributorship on Staten Island, then let his son take the reins in the 1980s. The distribution routes remained in the family until 1995.

Mr. Tully enjoyed hunting in his spare time, and he loved to fix things around the house and take care of his son’s horse farm in Davenport.

He was a parishioner of Our Lady Queen of Peace R.C. Church, New Dorp, and Sacred Heart R.C. Church, Stamford, N.Y.

His wife of 56 years, the former Marilyn McFadden, died in 2010.

Surviving are a son, John T. Tully; four daughters, Jacqueline Cruz, Susan Westphal, Colleen Brandefine and Maryellen Tully; two sisters, Patricia Martin and Elene Morlenes; nine grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.

The funeral will be tomorrow from the Hall-Tari Funeral Home, Stamford, with a mass at 2 p.m. at Sacred Heart R.C. Church, Stamford. Burial will follow at 11 a.m. on Thursday in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.